


Fixing Cars

by HomeForImaginaryFriends



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Build, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 14:36:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13389912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomeForImaginaryFriends/pseuds/HomeForImaginaryFriends
Summary: After a betrayal that left Bokuto heartbroken he finds it hard to trust anyone and doesn't want anything to do with his soulmate or their tattoos, until he meets a handsome mechanic.





	Fixing Cars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kath (KathWolfie)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KathWolfie/gifts).



> Kath! You wanted some BokuDai so here's some BokuDai! Hope you like it! I'll probably be about two or three chapters total. :)

Koutarou curled further under his blankets as the pounding on his door continued.  Eventually one of his neighbors would come out to yell at whoever was knocking and they would be forced to go away.  Koutarou didn’t know how to make it any clearer that he didn’t want any visitors.  He had let his phones battery die days ago and had unplugged the landline.  He just wanted to be alone for a while, that’s all.  He would bounce back from this eventually, he always did and it wasn’t like this was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.

 

Losing both his parents at 21 far outweighed the current heartbreak Koutarou was going through.  Back then he had to take care of his four younger siblings and he hadn’t been allowed to be upset or miserable.  He didn’t have time to lay in bed when he had various club activities to take his siblings to or get them ready for school, make sure they ate three meals a day.

 

This time he could lay in bed all day and eat cereal right out of the box.  He hadn’t showered in a couple days but that was beyond him at that point.

 

More knocking, this time it sounded more like banging than the polite raps of knuckles it had been before.

 

“Bo!”  A clear and familiar voice shouted through the door.  Koutarou pulled his pillow over his head, trying to block the person out.  If one person could talk him into opening the door it would be the one outside of it right then.  “I know you’re in there!  Open the door, it’s about Miya!”  Koutarou tossed his blankets aside, nearly getting his legs caught up in them as he stumbled out of the bed and to the door.

 

Miya was the youngest of the Bokuto household, she was in her first year of uni.  She was fiercely independant though she was clearly spoiled by the rest of her elder siblings.  Bokuto was no different, though he would have rushed out of bed for any of his siblings.

 

“What’s wrong with Miya?”  Koutarou was asking even before he got the door fully opened.  Tetsurou’s face was screwed up in that curious way that happened when he was angry but trying to hold back.  Tetsurou didn’t get upset often and he had a difficult time dealing with it when he did.

 

“She’s in hospital, they’ve been trying to call you.”  Tetsurou ground out as Koutarou shoved his feet into his sneakers.  Koutarou could tell Tetsurou was trying to hold back because he knew Koutarou already felt a large heaping of guilt and shame as he learned he had ignored his baby sister when she needed him.

 

They rushed to the hospital together.  The staff hadn’t been able to tell Tetsurou any details because he wasn’t family, they were just hoping Tetsurou could get into contact with the eldest Bokuto because he had been listed as the emergency contact and legal guardian of Miya.

 

Koutarou was immediately relieved when they got to the hospital and a nurse filled him in on what had happened.  Miya had taken Koutarou’s car, though the reason was unknown at that point, and someone had ran a stop sign.  The car had been totaled but besides some general scraps and bruises, Miya had come out mostly unharmed.  They were taken to her room where she was in a light-green hospital gown and covered with bandages on her arms and face.

 

“I’m so sorry!”  Miya apologized immediately, sitting up from her prone position.  Tears welled in her golden eyes.  Miya was almost an exact replica of Koutarou look wise, though she had dyed her hair black.  “I just wanted to get your car repainted, I thought it’d be a nice surprise and it would make you feel better!”  She was stubbornly refusing to let the tears fall because she knew the kind of pull she had over her older siblings.  Koutarou sat on the edge of her bed and gently pulled her into a hug, though he wanted to squeeze her to him.

 

“I don’t care about the car, I’m just glad you’re okay.”  Koutarou said honestly, though Miya didn’t look as if she believed him.  The car had been a gift from his parents, the last thing they had given him before they had died.  The Bokuto’s were a wealthy family, but they had wanted to instill a sense of work ethic in their children.  Koutarou had worked two jobs, saving money for nearly two years before he could afford his dream car.  At the last moment the person selling it decided they wanted more money, Koutarou had been crushed but he had been willing to continue working and saving.  His parents had surprised him with the car, telling him to put the money into a savings and that they had just wanted him to know the value of money and not expect things to be handed to him.

 

The car meant the world to Koutarou, but his siblings meant even more.

 

“Windows and doors can be replaced, cars can be replaced but you can’t.”  Koutarou stated, letting Miya go when she squirmed to be released.  She studied his face, seeing his open honesty in the statement he had made.  Koutarou had never been good at hiding his feelings, mostly he didn’t try.

 

“You weren’t feeling well before and now I’ve just made it worse.”  The tears fell and Koutarou pulled her back to him, rubbing her back carefully.  Koutarou felt like she had done the complete opposite, though he wasn’t glad for her accident.  It put everything in perspective, made him feel one step closer to fully moving on from his heartbreak.

 

“As long as you’re okay, everything else doesn’t matter.”  Koutarou let her go once more and grinned at her.  “Plus Hinata started work at that garage right?  I bet we can bring the car to him and he’ll fix it right up.”  Cars had been a late interest Shouyou had found.  He was still learning about them but he was rapidly becoming a great mechanic.  Miya finally smiled at the thought of her childhood friend.

 

“Shouyou will make sure I don’t get charged too much for the repairs.”  Miya stated with conviction.  Koutarou opened his mouth to argue but she shook her head.  “No, I damaged the car and will pay to have it fixed.”  Koutarou closed his mouth and solemnly nodded, though from what the nurse had said the car needed a lot of repair.  It was unlikely that Miya, working part time as a waitress and a fulltime student, would be able to afford to have it fully fixed.  Koutarou would let her pay for part of it, to instill the same work ethic and morals his parents had given him and to let her keep her pride, but he would be paying for the majority of it.

 

“Alright.”  Koutarou agreed.

 

“Um-” Miya’s nose wrinkled as her tears dried on her cheeks.  “Maybe you should take a shower before we go see the car.”  Koutarou glanced down at his stained shirt and ripped sweatpants.  He could feel the layer of grease on his face and fuzz on his teeth.  The nurse had looked alarmed when he ran into the hospital before learning who he was.  Maybe a shower would be a good thing.

  
  
  


\--------------

  
  
  


Tetsurou gave Koutarou and Miya a ride to the garage where Koutarou’s car had been towed.  It was a big building, painted matte-black with a mostly full parking lot.  From the waiting room Koutarou could see into the massive garage, housing four cars at the moment, and into the back where there were two offices with the doors opened wide.  The receptionist behind the desk in the room smiled at their entry.

 

“Welcome!”  The receptionist said warmly, though his eyes were mostly following the long length of Tetsurou’s frame.  Mostly Tetsurou picked up on flirting, but he was busy pulling on Miya’s braid and gently teasing her to take notice.  Koutarou noticed and tried to restrain his grimace.  Tetsurou had found his soulmate in the form of Yaku Morisuke when they were both in middle school.  Tetsurou was fiercely loyal to his soulmate, but he also enjoyed flirting with anyone who showed even the slightest interest.

 

“Hey hey hey!”  Koutarou greeted, trying to pull attention away from Tetsurou so they could all leave unharmed.  Koutarou was surprised when he was also given the bedroom eyed approval from the man with the undercut.  “Um- yes, my car was dropped off a couple days ago?”  Koutarou fumbled with his wallet to produce his driver's license.

 

Koutarou used to feel a slight sense of pride when someone flirted with him, but after what had happened all he could feel was cold dread in the pit of his stomach.  He fiddled nervously with the sleeve of his shirt, glad for the fall weather turning cooler so he could wear the longer sleeves to hide his soulmate mark.

 

“Terushima!”  A deep voice snapped from the small hallway that housed the back offices.  Terushima, the blonde receptionist, snapped to attention before giving a grin over his shoulder to the man storming towards him.  “What are you doing?”

 

“Covering for Yamaguchi.”  Terushima answered back as the slightly older man stopped to loom over him.  He was plain looking with short black hair and dark brown eyes.  Neither short nor overly tall with broad shoulders covered with a blue jumpsuit all the crew seemed to be wearing.

 

“And why would you be doing that?”  The man growled out.

 

“Because he went on a food run!”  Terushima put up his hands as the other man took a deep breath.

 

“Yamaguchi is here to assist customers and set up appointments, how many times do I have to tell you he is not your errand boy?”  The man pulled Terushima up by the back of his jumper, he had cut the sleeves off to show smooth and toned skin of his arms.  “I don’t need your harassing people, go fix something.”  Terushima scampered off, though he didn’t look all that apologetic.

 

“Daichi?”  Tetsurou asked behind Koutarou.  The man snapped his attention to Tetsurou before grimacing.

 

“Kuroo.”  The man seemed to slump slightly.

 

“As usual I appreciate your sunny attitude!”  Tetsurou smirked.  Koutarou had known the other man long enough to know that whoever he was, Tetsurou liked him.  Tetsurou tended to go overly friendly and polite to people he didn't know or didn't like, he teased and snarked at those he did like.

 

“And you’re as charming as ever.”  The man leaned a hip against the desk, crossing his arms over his chest but a slight quirk of the lips betrayed his amusement.

 

“These are the Bokuto’s, Koutarou and Miya.  I believe you have a car of his here.”  Tetsurou tossed his arms around both of their shoulders.  “Daichi and I go way back.”

 

“We knew each other for a couple months in high school, a decade ago.”  He sighed before turning a slightly warmer smile to Koutarou.  “ I'm Sawamura Daichi, I have your car in the back.  We’ve done a cursory check of it.”

 

“It’s bad isn’t it?”  Miya asked, chewing her bottom lip and leaning into Tetsurou’s side.  Daichi glanced over at her, seemed to note the scrapes and bruises before giving her a warm smile.

 

“Could have been much worse.”  Daichi said, though he didn’t disagree that it was bad.

 

“Miya!”  A loud voice boomed from the garage before a blue and orange streak crashed into them, pulling Miya into a tight hug.  Miya lost her somber air and laughed loudly as she hugged the other teen back.

 

“Shouyou!”  Miya greeted him happily.

 

“I’m so glad you’re okay.”  Shouyou pulled her away to arms length so he could look her over to make sure before he glanced over her shoulder.  “Bokuto, hello!”  He bowed deeply, earning a grin from Koutarou who ruffled his hair.

 

“Hinata, why don’t you show her the car and talk over the repairs you see?”  Daichi asked.  Shouyou stood up straight, eyes practically sparkling at being trusted with a task.  He bowed once more to Koutarou before doing as he was told.  Daichi turned to Koutarou, looking much more serious.

 

“That bad, huh?”  Koutarou asked, torn between mourning his car and being grateful that his sister really was alright.

 

“I can have it fixed, but it would be cheaper to sell it for scraps and buy a new car.”  Daichi admitted.  Koutarou felt his shoulders slump as all his negatives feelings plowed into him.  He tried to go through the mental training his therapist had taught him but it only seemed to drag him further down.  He knew he was spiraling and felt helpless that he couldn't pull himself out of it.

 

“Hey, he said he can fix it and despite his looks, if Daichi says he can do something then he will make it happen.”  Tetsurou said softly, rubbing a hand across Koutarou’s shoulders.

 

“Ignoring the dig about my looks, he’s right.  I can fix the car but it needs a lot of replacements and it will cost a good chunk of money.”  Daichi stated.  Koutarou leaned forward to look around a few cars to where his sister and Shouyou were standing at the back.

 

“My sister insists on paying for it but I don’t want her going into debt for it.”  Koutarou knew he couldn’t shrug off the negative emotions, but he could push them back to deal with the problem at hand.  It was one of the techniques his therapist had taught him when he didn’t have the time to properly sort through his feelings.

 

“We can come to an agreement on a reasonable monthly payment plan for her.”  Daichi grinned and Koutarou was thankful the other man understood.  Koutarou could pay the rest of the repairs behind Miya’s back but she could still pay what she could.

 

Daichi took Koutarou and Tetsurou into one of the back offices to go over everything that would be needed and gave him a general idea of a price.  Koutarou had inherited his parents money when they died.  It was a small fortune and Takizawa Yoshifumi, Koutarou’s father's business partner and lifelong friend, had helped Koutarou invest and earn more money.  Koutarou had built and now owned a Recreational Center, he worked six days a week there and was independently secure also.

 

The price still made Koutarou’s stomach sink.  It wouldn’t break the bank, not even close, but it was a sizable amount and it was only an estimation.  Daichi hadn’t done a full diagnostic of the damage yet.  It would have been cheaper to just buy a new car.  Koutarou didn’t even drive his car all that often.  The expense was too much.

 

But it felt like losing his parents all over again when he thought of scraping it.  Something in Koutarou’s face must have given him away because after the first suggestion of selling it for parts, Daichi didn’t mention it again.

 

“You okay Bo?”  Tetsurou asked in a soft tone after Daichi had apologized and excused himself to go check out a loud crash that had come from the garage.

 

“Yeah, shit, sorry- do you think- I’m probably worrying him.”  Koutarou slumped further in his chair as he thought about what Daichi must think of him.  Koutarou hadn’t had a bad episode in a while and he felt a heavy dose of shame for almost breaking down in front of a stranger who was just trying to do his job.

 

“Don’t worry about Daichi, he might seem strict with all the yelling and whatnot but he once pulled the fire alarm because he got so angry with me.”  Tetsurou smirked as he settled back in his chair.

 

“He’s _that_ guy?”  Koutarou asked in surprise.  During their third year in high school Tetsurou had gone to Miyagi with his mother to help take care of his great aunt, who had hip surgery and needed more assistance until it healed properly.  He had transferred to a school there for near six months and had struck up a rivalry with a boy he spoke of often.  Koutarou hadn’t connected the dots until Tetsurou mentioned it.  Tetsurou had been on the basketball team, a Vice Captain in Miyagi and a Captain back in Tokyo, and Daichi had been the Captain of the baseball team.  Before Tetsurou even moved there the basketball and baseball team had a huge rivalry going on.  Moving to the country when he had lived in the city his entire life, being away from his friends and family had been difficult for Tetsurou and Koutarou knew by various emails and phone conversations that Daichi had kept Tetsurou afloat.

 

“He’s a good guy.”  Tetsurou knocked their feet together and Koutarou felt himself relax a little.

 

Koutarou knew why this situation was hitting him so hard.  He had already been feeling quite down even before the car accident and now that he knew his sister was alright, all those negative feelings were coming back once again.

 

He adjusted the sleeve of his shirt again, making sure it fully covered his soul tattoo.  Almost everyone was born with one, though they came in different shapes and sizes and appeared in different places.  Tetsurou’s circled around his wrist, blooming flowers of dark red and deep blues.  Morisuke wore a matching one on the same wrist.  The marks only bloomed when in close contact with your soulmate.

 

Near a year ago Koutarou’s had started to bloom.  Just a peek of what promised to be colorful flowers, spreading up the entire length of his right arm.  Before his parents had died, Koutarou had been excited to meet his soulmate, to see all the blooms cover his right arm from wrist to shoulder.  After they died he had gotten lost in taking care of four children and teenagers.  After they had grown enough to look after themselves he had put all his concentration on building the Rec Center and then making it flourish.  His flowers had begun to bloom without him even realizing it.

 

It had been an excited group of children he had been helping play volleyball.  Mostly they were just running after the ball, using up their excess amount of energy and Koutarou had loved it.  They had gathered around him, asking to touch the small buds that had popped up on Koutarou’s skin without him noticing.

 

The buds appear when the soulmate is near and direct physical contact makes the flowers bloom.  The flowers don’t spread fully until an emotional connection is made.  Tetsurou’s soulmate tattoo had fully bloomed and spread against his pale skin.

 

Koutarou had been so excited, had shown everyone he came across and asked questions.  It must have happened while he was watching over the kids, he had somehow come across his soulmate.  He briefly remembered passing a small group of people heading out of the pool and to the locker room as he made his way to the large gymnasium with a line of eight to ten year olds following behind him.

 

Two days later Koutarou had met _him_.  The man who claimed to be his soulmate.  He had even showed Koutarou his own arm.  It had been slightly different than Koutarou’s, but he had been thrilled to have met his soulmate.  The one person who was meant for him, who was supposed to understand and love Koutarou.  Koutarou was beyond happy to finally have a partner, someone who would help Koutarou bare some of his heavy responsibilities.

 

Except it hadn’t been like that at all.

 

 _He_ hadn’t understood Koutarou at all, after the first few months _he_ even stopped trying.  He got annoyed when Koutarou fell into one of his down moods, would ignore and avoid Koutarou until Koutarou started to paste on a happy smile all the time.  He wanted nothing to do with Koutarou’s family, didn’t want to hear about the problems facing the Rec Center or how Koutarou’s youngest brother was going to travel the world playing violin.

 

Koutarou felt crushed but this was his soulmate, right?  The one person Koutarou was meant to be with.  Koutarou thought there must be something wrong with him if even his own soulmate couldn’t stand him.

 

“Bo?”  Tetsurou asked, worry again lacing his voice.  Koutarou tried to straighten up and stretched out his mouth in something resembling a smile.  He hadn’t told anyone what had happened, was too ashamed of it.

 

Koutarou had been so desperate for a partner, for someone to love and care about him that he had willingly ignored all the red flags and warning signs.

 

The Bokuto’s had been wealthy, enough for a lot of people to know that Koutarou had inherited quite a bit of money.  Koutarou had been warned about that, had even had a couple people try to befriend him just to ask for handouts consistently.  Koutarou hadn’t realized there were people far worse than those few he had met.

 

Koutarou had met his soulmate a year prior, but it hadn’t been the man he spent the next year in a relationship with.   _He_ had lied to Koutarou, faked a similar soul tattoo and had spent the year stealing money from Koutarou.

 

“I’m sorry about that.”  Daichi said, breaking Koutarou out of his heavy thoughts as he walked back into the office.  “Would you like a nikuman?”  Daichi offered them a bag filled with steamed buns.  Koutarou took one happily.  He didn’t want to have a complete meltdown in front of Daichi, but surprisingly when the other man entered the room, Koutarou felt lighter.  Koutarou couldn’t fix his past mistakes but Daichi was competent and intelligent, he could fix Koutarou’s car and Koutarou held onto that one small beacon of hope.


End file.
